During his press conference today in front of a horde of NHL media, Gary Bettman covered a number of topics. One of the bigger and surprising revelations was that the NHL salary cap could raise as much as $2 million next season.

There was thought that the cap would either stay the same or could possible be raised a couple of hundred thousand, but I doubt anyone considered the cap would go up that much.

In terms of NHL salary, $2 million is a major jump, giving teams the ability and the room to sign a bit more of a significant free agent, and could possibly give teams like Chicago and Pittsburgh a bit more wiggle room when it comes to their salary cap.

This is great news for the NHL in general, as it means the league has made strides on the business side and is financially growing. Of course, there are still some teams that are struggling — Phoenix, Tampa Bay, Atlanta — but there is still good growth in the league as a whole.

Bettman also talked about how the NHL and the NHLPA will discuss whether NHL players should take part in the IIHF World Championships, and what the NHL is doing to make the All-Star game more entertaining.